The Electronic Freedom of Information Act
Historical Context
The Act
"All agencies should use modern technology to inform citizens about what is known and done by their Government."
- Barack Obama
Current President of the United Sates
Memorandum on the Freedom of Information Act
In 1996, Congress passed the Electronic Freedom of Information Act (EFOIA) Amendments.
Purposes:
"(1) foster democracy by ensuring public access to agency records and information; (2) improve public access to agency records and information [with computerization]; (3) ensure agency compliance with statutory time limits; and (4) maximize the usefulness of agency records and information collected, maintained, used, retained, and disseminated by the Federal Government." (Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments) |
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What Changed
Citizens' rights :
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Government responsibilities :
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Government rights :
- "[In case of an] unusual circumstance...notify the person making the request if the request cannot be processed within the time limit...and...provide the person an opportunity to limit the scope of the request so that it may be processed within that time limit or an opportunity to arrange with the agency an alternative time frame for processing the request or a modified request" (5 U.S.C. § 552(B)(6)(ii))
- file an "exceptional circumstance" if experiencing backlogs (5 U.S.C. § 552(C)(6)(i))
- "[provide] for multitrack processing of requests for records based on the amount of work or time (or both) involved in processing requests" (5 U.S.C. § 552(D)(6)(i))
Rights and Responsibilities vs. Reality
"Far too often when citizens seek records from our government, they are met with long delays, denials and difficulty."
- John Cornyn
United States' Senator